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Monday, December 13, 2010

I hear that a Yale professor has compiled a list of memorable quotes of 2010. Hmm... sounds like a fun idea, even though the year's not completely over yet. Before I trundle off to read his list, I'd like to compile my own. I expect that most will be political, as this was an election year. So without further rambling, and in order of how the pop up in my head, here they are:

1. At the top of my list isNancy Pelosi's incredible statement, "... We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it..."; referring, of course, to the 'Obamacare' health-care reform bill.

-- Was she joking, or is she seriously ignorant about the way American legislation is supposed to be carried out? Or is the answer, perhaps, behind Door #3? Here's a hint: she wasn't joking.

2. Next up, Christine O'Donnell's political advertisement stating, "I am not a witch."

-- One thing you should know in any advertising campaign, including a political one, is that you should never, ever do your opponent's work for them. This ad simply dignifies charges that would otherwise be held to be ridiculous. In so doing, and with other gaffes, she solidly earned her loss.

3. Helen Thomas, referring to the people of Israel, said,"Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine." Pressed to answer where the Jews should go, she followed up with"They should go home, to Poland, Germany and America and everywhere else."

-- Hmm. Apparently, this country offers both free education and whatever the hell Helen Thomas got in place of an education. (Oddly, while you can find dozens of videos portraying the Pelosi quote above, it's difficult to find more than this Fox news clip of Helen Thomas. I'd've preferred one with just the quote.)

4. Buzz Aldrin, of Apollo 11 fame, gives us this gem in support of President Obama's scrapping of plans to put a permanent base on the Moon: "We've already been to the moon -- some 40 years ago."(click the picture to read a New Scientist article about the policy changes)

-- correction, Buzz. You've stood on the Moon (though Mike Collins didn't). Meanwhile, all of the reasons we wanted to go there wand establish a permanent base in the 1960s remain unfulfilled.

5. Former CBS news anchor Dan Rather gave us this gem about President Obama: "...he couldn't sell watermelons if you gave him the state troopers to flag down traffic."

-- With this unfortunate imagery, Rather manages to prove that no matter how big his foot gets, he can still fit it in his mouth.

6. In July, the artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince did a bizarre interview with The Daily Mirror, in which he declared that his album, 20TEN, would be distributed only on CDs in the Mirror on July 10th, and not on the Internet at all. Why? He says: "The internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it. The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."(click on the picture to read the interview)

-- Throughout the decade of the 2000s, Prince primarily released his records through his on-line subscription service, NPGMusicClub.com. He even won a "lifetime achievement" Webby award for it.. Hmm.... on second thought, judging from this interview, "can't be good for you" may be the understatement of the century.

7. Sharron Angle, while campaigning for the US Senate seat she lost to Harry Reid, opined, "I hope that's not where we're going, but you know if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around? I'll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out."

-- Memorable indeed. Supremely unfortunate is the wording, "take Harry Reid out". That's as in, "replace him through a peaceful vote", not "assassinate him". Many people agreed about replacing him, but Obama has inoculated the electorate against change for change's sake. We now know to make sure the 'change' is for the better. The election was Angle's to lose, and with repeated quips like that she lost it. (To be honest, it was a little difficult picking a most memorable Sharron Angle quote. Her font is as deep as Joe "this is a f*cking big deal" Biden's)

8. Sarah Palin tweeted this in July, "Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate." She recalled the tweet when called on the invented word, "refudiate", and followed up with"'Refudiate,' 'misunderestimate,' 'wee-wee'd up.' English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!'", which got her flak from some for "mistaking her illiteracy for literary genius" (click on the picture for CBS commentary)

-- The joke's on the detractors... Not only did they mistake having a self-depreciating sense of humor with "mistaking her illiteracy for literary genius"; she's actually right, we make up words all the time. 'Refudiate' is now a word, and she wasn't even the first to use it. Get over it.

9. Sir Elton John has this to say on the subject of religion:"I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems."(click on the picture for the interview in Parade magazine)

-- On the other hand, Voltaire once said, "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him." ... or re-invent Him, as Sir Elton has just done.

10. Republican Scott Brown won the US Senate seat that Democrat Ted Kennedy held for over 46 years. Alluding to observations that he had won "Ted Kennedy's seat," Brown responded in his victory speech, "This Senate seat belongs to no one person, to no one political party ... This is the People's seat."

-- Amen to that.

So that's my Top 10 list! Yes, it's US-centric... that's where I live and those are the people I hear. Now that I've revealed mine, I think I'll track down the Yale list and see if we have any in common.